How often do conditions match?

No opportunity windows are predicted in the next 10 days. Conditions can change quickly, so check back for updates.

More Dramatic Seascapes in California Coast

Rule Dramatic Seascapes

Malibu - Dramatic Seascapes - California Coast

Q: What conditions does Dramatic Seascapes look for?

Coastal Drama Score: ≥ 75.0%. Significant Wave Height: ≥ 1.5m. Visibility: ≥ 5000.0m. Wind Gusts: ≤ 22.0m/s. Precipitation Chance: ≤ 30.0%

Malibu, California, United States

Dramatic coastal photography conditions - powerful waves combined with atmospheric drama and good visibility for seascape shots.

No opportunities right now

Here’s what usually blocks matches

No Dramatic Seascapes opportunities in the next 14 days

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Rule requirements (key thresholds)

Coastal Drama Score · ≥ 75.0% Significant Wave Height · ≥ 1.5m Visibility · ≥ 5000.0m Wind Gusts · ≤ 22.0m/s

Tip: Scroll down to the 72-hour table to see exactly which condition fails hour by hour.

Most common blockers (next 72 hours)

Coastal Drama Score 100% failing

Significant Wave Height 100% failing

Visibility 10% failing

Currently

Real-time conditions

Coastal Drama Score

Wave Height0.3m

Swell Height0.2m

Wind Speed3.4m/s (calm conditions)

Cloud Cover31%

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/Los_Angeles

No opportunities in the next 10 days

See the blocker timeline below to understand which conditions are preventing matches.

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This forecast identifies when dramatic conditions align for coastal photography along California's legendary shoreline. We track cloud drama, visibility, and wind patterns to predict when the coast will come alive with photogenic conditions.

California's 840-mile coastline offers endless variety—from the towering cliffs of Big Sur to the sea stacks of Mendocino to the coves of Laguna Beach. The interplay between Pacific weather systems and the coastal mountains creates ever-changing conditions that can transform familiar locations.

What makes the California coast special for dramatic photography:

Dynamic weather - Pacific storms bring dramatic skies, and clearing conditions create spectacular light
Diverse geography - Sea stacks, arches, waterfalls, cliffs, and beaches in endless variety
Fog and mist - Marine layer creates moody atmosphere, especially summer mornings
Year-round access - Mild climate means photography opportunities in every season

The best dramatic conditions often occur during and after winter storms (November-March), when clearing skies can produce spectacular light. Summer brings reliable morning fog that burns off by midday, creating soft, ethereal conditions. Wind patterns affect wave action—some drama is good, but excessive gusts make shooting difficult. Check our forecast to time your coastal adventures.

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72-hour requirements breakdown

What passed or failed, hour by hour

0matching hours in the next 87 hours

AND logic: all conditions required

Meets requirement

Misses requirement

Time America/Los_Angeles	Coastal Drama Score ≥ 75.0%	Significant Wave Height ≥ 1.5m	Visibility ≥ 5000.0m	Wind Gusts ≤ 22.0m/s	Precipitation Chance ≤ 30.0%
Mon, Jun 22
21:00	9.2%	0.25m	24134m	1.7m/s	0%
22:00	3.6%	0.24m	24134m	1.4m/s	0%
23:00	3.2%	0.26m	24135m	1.3m/s	0%
Tue, Jun 23
24:00	3.1%	0.26m	14055m	1.1m/s	0%
01:00	3%	0.12m	7386m	1m/s	0%
02:00	2.6%	0.23m	12798m	1.1m/s	0%
03:00	2.8%	0.24m	24135m	0.91m/s	0%
04:00	2.8%	0.32m	24135m	0.91m/s	0%
05:00	9.2%	0.31m	24134m	0.93m/s	0%
06:00	10%	0.34m	24135m	0.32m/s	0%
07:00	9.5%	0.34m	24135m	0.71m/s	0%
08:00	7.9%	0.34m	24134m	1.2m/s	0%
09:00	6.7%	0.33m	24135m	1.3m/s	0%
10:00	12%	0.26m	24135m	1.7m/s	0%
11:00	4.5%	0.29m	2662m	2m/s	0%
12:00	5.2%	0.25m	1565m	1.9m/s	0%
13:00	5.2%	0.28m	2492m	1.6m/s	0%
14:00	5.1%	0.32m	4095m	1.7m/s	0%
15:00	5.4%	0.34m	3428m	2.2m/s	0%
16:00	4.7%	0.37m	5039m	2.3m/s	0%
17:00	8.3%	0.39m	24134m	3m/s	0%
18:00	8.5%	0.36m	24135m	3.7m/s	0%
19:00	8.8%	0.34m	24135m	3.2m/s	0%
20:00	9.6%	0.31m	24134m	2.4m/s	0%
21:00	9.8%	0.31m	24134m	1.6m/s	0%
22:00	2.9%	0.31m	24135m	1.3m/s	0%
23:00	2.9%	0.31m	24135m	1.1m/s	0%
Wed, Jun 24
24:00	2.9%	0.32m	24135m	1.1m/s	0%
01:00	3.1%	0.32m	24134m	1.2m/s	0%
02:00	2.8%	0.33m	24134m	1m/s	0%
03:00	3.6%	0.33m	24134m	0.82m/s	0%
04:00	3%	0.32m	24134m	0.72m/s	0%
05:00	8.5%	0.32m	24134m	0.72m/s	0%
06:00	10%	0.3m	24134m	0.71m/s	0%
07:00	9.5%	0.28m	24134m	0.6m/s	0%
08:00	13%	0.26m	24135m	0.95m/s	0%
09:00	11%	0.25m	24135m	1.3m/s	0%
10:00	12%	0.23m	24135m	1.4m/s	0%
11:00	10%	0.22m	22008m	1.4m/s	0%
12:00	6.7%	0.22m	3147m	2m/s	0%
13:00	8.2%	0.21m	3144m	2.5m/s	0%
14:00	8.8%	0.21m	18783m	3.1m/s	0%
15:00	9.8%	0.21m	24135m	3.7m/s	0%
16:00	12%	0.22m	24134m	4.2m/s	0%
17:00	12%	0.22m	24134m	4.6m/s	0%
18:00	11%	0.23m	24135m	5.1m/s	0%
19:00	9.2%	0.24m	24134m	5.6m/s	0%
20:00	9.6%	0.25m	24134m	5.4m/s	0%
21:00	8.8%	0.24m	24134m	4.4m/s	0%
22:00	6.1%	0.22m	24135m	3.3m/s	0%
23:00	5.3%	0.21m	24134m	2.5m/s	0%
Thu, Jun 25
24:00	6.1%	0.19m	24134m	2.2m/s	0%
01:00	5.4%	0.18m	24135m	1.7m/s	0%
02:00	4.7%	0.16m	24134m	1.4m/s	0%
03:00	4.7%	0.15m	24134m	1.2m/s	0%
04:00	4.6%	0.15m	24135m	1.1m/s	0%
05:00	14%	0.14m	24135m	1.2m/s	0%
06:00	15%	0.14m	24134m	1.5m/s	0%
07:00	14%	0.13m	24134m	2.1m/s	0%
08:00	10%	0.13m	24135m	2.5m/s	0%
09:00	8.6%	0.13m	24134m	2.4m/s	0%
10:00	8.8%	0.12m	24135m	2.2m/s	0%
11:00	6.2%	0.12m	8344m	1.9m/s	0%
12:00	7.6%	0.12m	6273m	2m/s	0%
13:00	7.9%	0.12m	2487m	2.2m/s	0%
14:00	7.6%	0.12m	6052m	2.7m/s	0%
15:00	8.2%	0.13m	18348m	3.2m/s	0%
16:00	8.9%	0.13m	18353m	3.3m/s	0%
17:00	8.7%	0.14m	18399m	3.1m/s	0%
18:00	12%	0.16m	20311m	2.8m/s	0%
19:00	12%	0.17m	22223m	2.5m/s	0%
20:00	15%	0.19m	24135m	2.2m/s	0%
21:00	13%	0.2m	24135m	2.7m/s	0%
22:00	4.6%	0.21m	24135m	3.1m/s	0%
23:00	4.6%	0.22m	24135m	3.5m/s	0%
Fri, Jun 26
24:00	4.6%	0.26m	24135m	3m/s	0%
01:00	2.6%	0.31m	24135m	2.5m/s	0%
02:00	2.6%	0.35m	24135m	1.9m/s	0%
03:00	2.6%	0.36m	24135m	2.3m/s	0%
04:00	2.3%	0.38m	24135m	2.7m/s	0%
05:00	7.6%	0.39m	24135m	3.1m/s	0%
06:00	7.4%	0.4m	19904m	2.8m/s	0%
07:00	9.3%	0.4m	15673m	2.6m/s	0%
08:00	8.4%	0.41m	11443m	2.3m/s	0%
09:00	8.1%	0.4m	15673m	3.2m/s	0%
10:00	9.2%	0.39m	19904m	4m/s	0%
11:00	8.6%	0.38m	24135m	4.8m/s	0%

How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity).

What does Coastal Drama Score mean?

Inputs that drive the score

This derived score summarizes multiple raw weather signals. The table below shows the supporting inputs hour by hour, so you can see what's pushing the score up or down.

Time America/Los_Angeles	High Clouds %	Low Clouds %	Mid-Level Clouds %	Primary Swell Height m	Primary Wave Direction °	Sea Salt AOD (550nm)	Solar Elevation °	Total Cloud Coverage %	Wind Direction °	Wind Speed m/s	Wind Wave Height m	Wind Wave Period s
Tue, Jun 23 Sunrise 05:45 Sunset 20:09
13:00	0%	31%	0%	0.16m	156°	0.01	79°	31%	195°	3.4m/s	0.22m	6.2s
14:00	0%	31%	3%	0.16m	159°	0.01	73°	31%	201°	3.2m/s	0.27m	5.6s
15:00	0%	20%	59%	0.16m	171°	0.01	61°	60%	214°	3.4m/s	0.3m	4.6s
16:00	0%	14%	5%	0.15m	183°	0.01	49°	15%	217°	3m/s	0.33m	3.7s
17:00 ☾	0%	2%	23%	0.15m	195°	0.01	37°	23%	235°	3.1m/s	0.36m	2.7s
18:00 ☾	0%	0%	12%	0.14m	188°	0.01	24°	12%	249°	3.3m/s	0.33m	3.2s
19:00 ☾	0%	0%	5%	0.14m	181°	0.01	12°	5%	249°	2.5m/s	0.3m	3.7s
20:00 ☾	0%	0%	5%	0.13m	173°	0.02	1.4°	5%	254°	1.5m/s	0.27m	4.2s
21:00 ☾	0%	0%	5%	0.13m	174°	0.02	-9.5°	5%	302°	0.36m/s	0.27m	4.1s
22:00 ☾	0%	0%	4%	0.13m	175°	0.02	-19°	4%	242°	0.1m/s	0.27m	4s
23:00 ☾	0%	0%	5%	0.13m	176°	0.02	-26°	5%	278°	0.32m/s	0.27m	3.9s
Wed, Jun 24 Sunrise 05:45 Sunset 20:09
24:00 ☾	0%	0%	4%	0.16m	171°	0.02	-31°	4%	115°	0.11m/s	0.26m	4.4s
01:00 ☾	0%	0%	5%	0.2m	165°	0.02	-33°	5%	134°	0.41m/s	0.25m	5s
02:00 ☾	0%	0%	5%	0.23m	159°	0.02	-31°	5%	153°	0.21m/s	0.24m	5.6s
03:00 ☾	0%	0%	3%	0.23m	159°	0.02	-26°	3%	292°	0.13m/s	0.23m	5s
04:00 ☾	0%	0%	4%	0.24m	159°	0.02	-18°	4%	42°	0.13m/s	0.21m	4.5s
05:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.24m	159°	0.02	-8.7°	0%	203°	0.08m/s	0.2m	3.9s
06:00	0%	0%	0%	0.23m	156°	0.02	2.2°	0%	104°	0.07m/s	0.21m	5.8s
07:00	0%	0%	0%	0.22m	154°	0.02	13°	0%	113°	0.17m/s	0.21m	7.6s
08:00	0%	0%	0%	0.21m	151°	0.02	25°	0%	174°	0.99m/s	0.22m	9.5s
09:00	0%	0%	0%	0.19m	150°	0.02	38°	0%	175°	1.6m/s	0.2m	12s
10:00	0%	0%	0%	0.16m	149°	0.02	50°	0%	186°	2.3m/s	0.19m	14s
11:00	0%	5%	0%	0.14m	148°	0.01	62°	5%	199°	2.5m/s	0.17m	16s
12:00	0%	18%	0%	0.13m	148°	0.01	74°	18%	208°	3.2m/s	0.16m	16s
13:00	0%	20%	0%	0.13m	148°	0.01	79°	20%	215°	3.4m/s	0.16m	16s
14:00	0%	9%	0%	0.12m	148°	0.01	73°	9%	227°	3.5m/s	0.15m	16s
15:00	0%	1%	0%	0.12m	148°	0.01	61°	1%	238°	3.7m/s	0.16m	16s
16:00	0%	0%	0%	0.11m	148°	0.01	49°	0%	248°	4m/s	0.16m	15s
17:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.11m	148°	0.01	37°	0%	260°	4.2m/s	0.17m	15s
18:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.11m	151°	-	24°	0%	271°	4.5m/s	0.18m	13s
19:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	154°	-	12°	0%	276°	4.7m/s	0.2m	10s
20:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	156°	-	1.4°	0%	288°	4.6m/s	0.21m	7.9s
21:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	153°	-	-9.4°	0%	298°	3.7m/s	0.2m	10s
22:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	151°	-	-19°	0%	303°	2.7m/s	0.19m	13s
23:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	148°	-	-26°	0%	295°	2.1m/s	0.18m	15s
Thu, Jun 25 Sunrise 05:45 Sunset 20:10
24:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	148°	-	-31°	0%	312°	1.2m/s	0.16m	15s
01:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	148°	-	-33°	0%	285°	0.42m/s	0.13m	15s
02:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	148°	-	-31°	0%	229°	0.13m/s	0.11m	15s
03:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	148°	-	-26°	0%	94°	0.17m/s	0.11m	15s
04:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.09m	148°	-	-18°	0%	94°	0.68m/s	0.11m	15s
05:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.09m	148°	-	-8.7°	0%	103°	1.1m/s	0.11m	15s
06:00	0%	0%	0%	0.09m	148°	-	2.1°	0%	92°	1.5m/s	0.11m	15s
07:00	0%	0%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	13°	0%	103°	1.8m/s	0.1m	15s
08:00	0%	0%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	25°	0%	120°	2.3m/s	0.1m	15s
09:00	0%	0%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	38°	0%	143°	2.5m/s	0.09m	15s
10:00	0%	1%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	50°	1%	168°	3m/s	0.09m	15s
11:00	0%	11%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	62°	11%	181°	3.1m/s	0.08m	15s
12:00	0%	30%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	73°	30%	191°	3.5m/s	0.08m	14s
13:00	0%	31%	0%	0.08m	148°	-	79°	31%	203°	3.7m/s	0.09m	14s
14:00	0%	20%	0%	0.08m	149°	-	73°	20%	213°	3.7m/s	0.09m	14s
15:00	0%	20%	0%	0.08m	149°	-	61°	20%	224°	3.7m/s	0.09m	14s
16:00	0%	3%	0%	0.09m	149°	-	49°	3%	231°	3.7m/s	0.09m	14s
17:00 ☾	0%	3%	0%	0.09m	149°	-	37°	3%	233°	3.4m/s	0.09m	14s
18:00 ☾	0%	2%	0%	0.09m	148°	-	24°	2%	188°	3m/s	0.12m	14s
19:00 ☾	0%	1%	0%	0.09m	148°	-	12°	1%	143°	2.6m/s	0.14m	14s
20:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.09m	148°	-	1.4°	0%	98°	2.2m/s	0.17m	14s
21:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.1m	148°	-	-9.4°	0%	99°	2.5m/s	0.18m	14s
22:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.12m	148°	-	-19°	0%	100°	2.8m/s	0.18m	14s
23:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.13m	148°	-	-26°	0%	101°	3m/s	0.19m	14s
Fri, Jun 26 Sunrise 05:45 Sunset 20:10
24:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.2m	156°	-	-31°	0%	103°	2.5m/s	0.2m	11s
01:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.27m	165°	-	-33°	0%	105°	2m/s	0.2m	8s
02:00 ☾	0%	0%	0%	0.34m	173°	-	-31°	0%	107°	1.5m/s	0.21m	5s
03:00 ☾	0%	4%	0%	0.35m	173°	-	-26°	4%	132°	2.2m/s	0.26m	5.2s
04:00 ☾	0%	7%	0%	0.37m	173°	-	-18°	7%	157°	3m/s	0.3m	5.3s
05:00 ☾	0%	11%	0%	0.38m	173°	-	-8.8°	11%	182°	3.8m/s	0.35m	5.5s
06:00	3%	18%	0%	0.38m	174°	-	2.1°	19%	199°	3.5m/s	0.26m	5.4s
07:00	5%	24%	0%	0.39m	176°	-	13°	28%	217°	3.3m/s	0.17m	5.3s
08:00	8%	30%	0%	0.39m	177°	-	25°	36%	234°	3.1m/s	0.08m	5.2s
09:00	18%	20%	0%	0.38m	178°	-	37°	37%	256°	3.6m/s	0.17m	5.3s
10:00	28%	10%	0%	0.38m	179°	-	50°	37%	278°	4.2m/s	0.27m	5.3s
11:00	38%	0%	0%	0.37m	179°	-	62°	38%	300°	4.7m/s	0.36m	5.4s
12:00	25%	0%	0%	0.36m	179°	-	73°	25%	303°	4m/s	0.32m	5.4s

How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

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